The Turkish state and its mercenaries, which occupied Afrin in 2018, continue their inhumane crimes, such as killings, kidnappings for ransom, theft of civilians’ money and property, deforestation and cutting fruit trees (particularly olive trees) to sell them as firewood, imposing royalties, extortion, and looting of antiquities and buried treasures through illegal excavations and bulldozing of archaeological sites.

According to information provided to ANHA by a source from the Shiye district of Afrin, the Al-Amshat mercenary group receives a tax of 1 dollar for each grape tree in the vineyards that belong to the Afrin people.

In May alone, the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation cut down a total of 2,124 olive and pomegranate trees in the occupied Afrin region. Additionally, approximately 18,000 olive trees were burned. Furthermore, intentional fires destroyed numerous forest trees, according to a balance sheet published by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on June 4.